Bachelor of Nuclear Engineering at University of California, Berkeley

Bachelor of Science (BS)

The program is designed to prepare students for a career in industry, the national laboratories, or in state or federal regulatory agencies. The program, leading to a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Nuclear Engineering, emphasizes study in the following areas of nuclear engineering: nuclear reactions and radiation, introduction to medical imaging, nuclear reactor theory and design, fusion power engineering, radioactive waste management, radiological and biophysics, and nuclear materials.

Many students will go on to complete a one-year master's degree program (the department does not have a fifth-year MS program). Students interested in careers in scientific research or in college-level teaching go on to complete the doctorate.

Accreditation

This program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.

Admission to the Major

Prospective undergraduates to the College of Engineering will apply for admission to a specific program in the College. For further information, please see the College of Engineering's website.

Admission to Engineering via a Change of College application for current UC Berkeley students is highly unlikely and very competitive as there are few, if any, spaces that open in the College each year to students admitted to other colleges at UC Berkeley. For further information regarding a Change of College to Engineering, please see the College's website.

Minor Program

The department offers a minor in Nuclear Engineering (NE) that is open to all students who are not majoring in NE and who have completed the necessary prerequisites for the minor requirements. For information regarding the prerequisites, please see the Minor Requirements tab on this page.

The Nuclear Engineering (NE) minor is open to any undergraduate who satisfies the following requirements:

• Declaration of a major (not NE) on the UC Berkeley campus
• A cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 at the time of applying
• Completion of the minor must not delay graduation

To apply for the minor, submit the Petition for Admission to the Undergraduate Minor to the undergraduate adviser after completion of the prerequisite courses. Upon completion of the minor requirements, submit a Petition for Completion of the Undergraduate Minor to the undergraduate adviser.

Joint Majors

The Department of Nuclear Engineering also offers three joint majors with other departments in the College of Engineering and one joint major with a Department in the College of Chemistry. For further information on these programs, please click the links below:
Chemical Engineering/Nuclear Engineering (Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, College of Chemistry)
Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences/Nuclear Engineering (Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences)
Materials Science and Engineering/Nuclear Engineering (Department of Materials Science and Engineering)
Mechanical Engineering/Nuclear Engineering (Department of Mechanical Engineering)

Visit Department Website

The mission of the Department of Nuclear Engineering is to maintain and strengthen the University of California's only center of excellence in nuclear engineering education and research and to serve California and the nation by improving and applying nuclear science and technology. The mission of the undergraduate degree program in Nuclear Engineering is to prepare our students to begin a lifetime of technical achievement and professional leadership in academia, government, the national laboratories, and industry.

Learning Goals for the Major

The foundation of the UC Berkeley Nuclear Engineering (NE) program is a set of five key objectives for educating undergraduate students. The NE program continuously reviews these objectives internally to ensure that they meet the current needs of the students, and each spring the Program Advisory Committee meets to review the program and recommend changes to better serve students. The NE Program Advisory Committee was established in 1988 and is composed of senior leaders from industry, the national laboratories, and academia.

Nuclear engineering at UC Berkeley prepares undergraduate students for employment or advanced studies with four primary constituencies: industry, the national laboratories, state and federal agencies, and academia (graduate research programs). Graduate research programs are the dominant constituency. From 2000 to 2005, sixty-eight percent of graduating NE seniors indicated plans to attend graduate school in their senior exit surveys. To meet the needs of these constituencies, the objectives of the NE undergraduate program are to produce graduates who as practicing engineers and researchers do the following:

1. Apply solid knowledge of the fundamental mathematics and natural (both physical and biological) sciences that provide the foundation for engineering applications.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of nuclear processes, and the application of general natural science and engineering principles to the analysis and design of nuclear and related systems of current and/or future importance to society.
3. Exhibit strong, independent learning, analytical and problem solving skills, with special emphasis on design, communication, and an ability to work in teams.
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the broad social, ethical, safety, and environmental context within which nuclear engineering is practiced.
5. Value and practice life-long learning.